Telegraph signal recording system



Dec. 1, 1931. E. F. WATSON ETAL 1,333,953

TELEGRAPH SIGNAL RECORDING SYSTEM 3 Sheets -Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 10, 1930 E. E WATSON INVENTOPS M AT TO/PNE Y D 1931- E. F. WATSON ET AL ,9

TELEGRAPH SIGEAL RECORDING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 10, 1930 SSheets-Sheet 2 i 5 g F7613 2/! 9 f FIG. 6-A FIG. 6-8

By W C ATTORNEY E. F. WATSON ET AL TELEGRAPH SIGNAL RECORDING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 10, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 E. E WASO 7'. A. M cA/v/v Arron/v12"? M H lmm'm -IIIIIIIIII)' 5 I I m I I I I I I I n I I Patented Dec. 1, 1931- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWA RD'I. WA'IBOI T, OF IILRCHIONT, NEW m mom mm, 01' m ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOBSJTO AmIOAN' TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, A. CORPORATION 01' NEW YQBK TELEGRAPH. SIGNAL BEQOIB-DIDTG 8m Application filed September 10, 1980. Serial No. 481,044.

This invention relates to telegraph signal' recording systems and more particularly to signal recording in simplex telegraph systems having common mechanism at a station for recording messages sent in opposite dire'ctions.

this type so that the east-going and west-going messages are recorded upon the same page or tape. If, in this case, the records-are made with the same kind of characters or ymbols, for both messages, confusion-is likel sult as to the origin of the'message's.

It is an object of this invention to'provitld an arrangement at such stations whereby east gomg, and west-going messages or incoming A feature of this invention resides inmeans associated with the recording de'vice -where invention, the recording device is provided with means whereby, in response to the impulse of one message, the color medium is shifted relative to the'recording base to effect a change in color.

A more specific feature resides in the arrangement in a telegraph printer of means,

controlled by a telegraph transmitter, for automatically shifting the two-color ribbon with respect to the platen in either the u per or the lower case, to print the message rom that transmitter in a color distinguishable from that in which the message from another transmitter is printed on the same page or tape. v In accordance with a still more specific fea- It may be desirable to arrange stations of Hof telegraph systems in which at least-two and .t

y F irs-1L .the t'womessages may be obtained in differ- ;lent ways" known in the art such as by difl'erand outgoing messages, which are recorded v upon the same page or tape, maybe readlly-z distinguished from one another.

which the ribbon had been shifted.

The invention is applicable tovarious types messages are recorded on a common recorder, e recorder may be of various types. Various types of telegraph signals ma be used and the differentiation in the records of noe in color, in kind of symbols, or in plac- PQf'the symbols on the recording base ch maybe a tape or a page;

{*"iIn-iits preferred form the invention is ap- T Ito. a start-stop telegraph system in .which a singletape printer 1s used for recordingof messages incoming over a line and messages transmitted by a local keyboard transmitter which forms a mechanical unit.

with the printer.

For an example of the tape I rinter to which the invention may be app ied in its preferred form, reference is made to Patent 1,745,633 to Morton and Krum issued February 4, 1930. For an example of a local keyboard transmitter to which the invention may be applied in its preferred form, reference is made to Patent 1,635,129 to Krum and Krum issued July 5, 1927. For another example of a local keyboard transmitter,

suitablefor the present purpose, reference is made to Patent No. 1,595,472 to Krum issued August-10, 1926.

In accordance with the preferred arran ement the tape printer and the keyboard, isclosed in the patents referred to, are joined into a mechanical unit thus forming a complete transmitting and receiving umt. This unit-is equipped with a receiving ma at which may be-included directl in the 00p circuit or else may be con-tro ed by a line relay. The unit also includes transmitting contacts controlled by the keyboard and in.-

cluded in the line circuit to transmit signals to a remote station and at the same time to the receiving magnet for local recording.

According to this arrangement the-receiw ing magnet is operated by the distant transmitter as well as by the local transmitterand since it controls the selectin mechanism of a single llprinter, the records rom the two sources wi be made on a single paper strip,

and-will follow one another alternately in close succession. Confusion as to the origin of 'any particular part of the records may thus readily occur, especially when the system is used, for example, for supervision of traflic over parallel systems where the direction of the messages may change at frequent intervals.

independently of the position of the platen,

so that either color on the ribbon may be lined up with the effective case of the type bars to make the record in either color in both upper and lower cases.

in efictive type case.

As a part of the mechanical unit, shifting means are incorporated for the relative shiftof the ribbon carriage with respect. to the These means comprise various levels which are operated by the transmitting distributor during or shortly after the startin interval which follows upon the release 0 the transmitter b the operation of a key in the keyboard. he effect is a shifting of the ribbon carriage from its normal position relative to the platen sufiicient to make the color which is to be char acteristic of an outgoing message eflective in the subsequent printing operation, and the arrangement is such that the ribbon carriage will be held inthis position until after completion of the printing operation for the symbol corresponding to the depressed key. The release of the ribbon carriage is effected by the return movement of the type operating 1 plunger. The other color is effective during the reception of signals from the loop circuit, when the ribbon carriage is in its normal position with respect to the platen.

It will thus be seen that when the printer is responding to signals from the line the color tape retains its normal relation with respect to the platen, whereas when the ke board is operated, the color tape will shifted at the beginning of the operating cycle of the sending transmitter to present the other color for local recording;-the printer subsequently responds to the signals produced by the transmitter to print the corresponding symbol and, upon return to its normal position, releases the ribbon carriage to restore the normal color. The result is that the records of incoming messages will be printed in one color and those of outgoing aaaaets ff' messages in the other color and the origin of the messages may thus readilybevdetermined.

- Ordinaril such speed tv at a new key is depressed before the printer has 00111 leted the printing of the symbol corres n in pressed key. In t 's case the r1 bon carriage will retain its shifted position during continuous sendin without being released by the printer mec anism. I

- It may readil be seen from this description that-the s ifting means operating in response to the local sendin transmitter may accomplish various other unctions, instead of that of shifting the ribbon tape, with the idea of modifying the record of the symbols for the sake of differentiation between the messages. Also in the case of recorders for signals not of the( five-unit code, but such as'dot and dash signals, or those produced by a change of polarity, satisfactory results may readily be obtained by arranging the shifting mechanism to be responsive to signals from one source and unresponsive to signals from the other source. In the preferred form described above in a general way, it is also possible to arrange forremote control by the keyboard of the shifting mechanism for the ribbon carriage.

The following is a description of two preferred forms of the invention and reference should be had to the attached drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a simplified circuit diagram of a telegraph system to which the invention is applicable;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment of the invention and shows a unit comprising a keyboard transmitter, a printer and shifting means for the color ribbon. Certain parts of the printer are shown broken away for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view correspondnism in operated condition;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the mechanism, shown in Fig. 3, in normal position; this view is taken on line 4-4 in Fig. 2;

ing to Fig. 2, showing the shifting mecha- I Fig. 5 is .a perspective view of certain parts of the shifting mechanism shown in Figs.

2, 3 and 4;

Figs. 6A, B, C and D are diagrammatic representations of the possible positions of the color tape with respect to the printing elements;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional detail view of the sending transmitter, shown in Fig. 2 and taken on the line 7-7 in that figure;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention showing a unit combining a printer of the same kind as shown in Fig. 2 with a keyboard transmitter of a somewhat different construction from that shown in Fig. 2, and including the shifting means of the keyboard is operated at g to a reviously de-' Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view showingin operated conditions the transmittin distributor included in the structure 'of ig 8. For a full understanding of the operation of aicomplete station to which the features of the present invention may be applied, reference should be had to the disc osures of Patents 1,745,633, 1,635,127 and 1,595,472 referred to above. Only. such parts of the devices, shown in these prior patents, are

referred to in the following description and shown in the attached drawings as are necessary to facilitate an understanding of the features and operation of the present invention. Those parts of the prior machines, which are shown' in the drawings, have been shown in views corresponding to certain views in the prior patents, and have been shown with certain distortions to provide for'greater clearness.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 which is a simplified diagrammatical view of a telegraph system to which the invention is applicable, the system com rises a loop circuit L interconnecting two te egraph stations SE and SW which may have identical equipment; other stations ma be included in this loop circuit. Station S is shown to comprise a receiving equipment .R, which includes the line relay LR, which may also be the printer magnet, and a transmitting equipment T, including transmitting distributor TD and the transmitting contacts TC operated by the distributor. From this-circuit it will be seen that the line relay LR is operat- Th ed when the transmitting contacts TC, at any of the stations included in the loop, are operated.

. A unitary receiving and transmitting e uipment for a telegraph station such as S W is shown in Figs. 2 to 7 of the attached drawings. This particular embodiment of the invention comprises a printer mechanism suchas' is shown in Patent N 0. 1,745,633 and a transmitting mechanism such as shown in Patent No. 1,635,129 and a shifting mechanism for the color ribbon particularly adapted for cooperation with these mechanisms. The unit comprises a common base 10 for mounting of the tape printer and the keyboard transmitter. The printer is driven throughmfaiishaft 21 and "the transmitter through main shaft 45 both shafts being transmitting through clutch members 57 and 58," when driven in any'desirable manner from asingle motor (not shown). r

- 'flie keyboard transmitter com rises a distributor TD .which'lsdriven .N

these are brought into engagement'-'in"response to the operation of oneof the keys 14 I ars 50,to rotate shaft 44,which and through carries the he 'cal seriesof cams 43' and starting cam 82. (See also Fig. 7.) Immediately upon engagement of clutch members 57' and 58 the starting cam 82 will transmit a start impulse over the line by opening the transmitting contacts 37 and 38; cams 43 will next open contacts 37 and 38, in -a.'c cordance with the code corresponding to the key 14 which was depressed, to transmit that code over the line. At the endof this cycle transmitting distributor TD comes to rest by the disengagement of clutch members 57 and 58, unless a key has again been depressed'in which case the transmitting distributor continues with a new cycle of operation.

The starting impulse will cause the line relay LR to release the receiving, distributor (not shown), which is part of the printing machine, and the subsequent code impulses will cause the line relay to set the permutation bars of the printer for selection of the code bar corresponding to the received code. After the arrival of the stop interval. the plunger 74 is raised to operate the selected code'or stunt bar to erform the rinting or stunt operation, as the case may e, and the plunger returns to its lower or normal position. The plunger is operated from the motor through power shaft'21 which normally is held stationary and is released for rotation when the receiving distributor returns to-its normal or stop sector.

The printer comprises a paper strip feed mechanism which includes a platen 10?- mounted in the platen frame 104 whichinturn is fixed on the axially slidable shaft 105 to be rotated a step at a time every time the printing plunger 74 returns to its normal position.

e paper strip 107' passes through suitable guides 201 and 202 which are mounted on the platen frame and thus retain a fixed relation etween the paper and-the platen in both upper and lower cases.

The shifting of the platen frame with its various elements takes place in response to certain signal codes. The code for shift results in the selection of stunt bar 68a which through the upward movement of plunger 74 causes an'extension 130 at the lower end of stunt bar 68a to operate the bail 124 on its pivots 125 in an anti-clockwise direction so that fork 126, fastened to the bail and en aging grooved collar 127, will impart a s ift toward the left to shaft 125 and to the platen frame and the paper strip. The platen 7 frame remains in its shifted position until a code'slgnal for unshift causes theselection' through lever 131 operates bail 12A.- in a direction such that the fork 126 will impart'a movement toward the right to shaft 125 and the laten 107.

T 6 color ribbon guide and the shiftin mechanism therefor will now be describe The color ribbon spools ma be mounted'in any desirable manner and t e ribbon 212 in assing from. one spool to the other is brought into close proximity to the platen at the space of printing 200. It is kept in alignment by ribbon guides 203 and 204. These guides are mounted on the ribbon carriage 205 which isslidably supported on posts 206 and 207 rigidly mounted on the platen frame 104. As shown in' Fig. 2, the carriage 205 under the pressurev of springs 208 and 209 is held in its normal position against enlarged portions 210 and 211 of posts 206 and 207 in which position the color ribbon 212 has its right hand side, say the red side, aligned with the printing space 200.

For the purpose of shifting the color ribbon a cam 220 is mounted on shaft 44 of the transmitting distributor TD and against the periphery of this cam a roller 221 mounted on slidable bar 222, is pressed by the tension of spring 223. Cam 220 has a raised caming surface 224 the angular relation of which with respect to roller 221, is such that the roller will be moved thereby in a direction awa from shaft 44 shortly after the starting of this shaft, that is, roller 221 will be operated during the starting interval or soon thereafter. y

The subsequent operations will be more readily understood by reference to Fig. 5. The movement of slidable bar 222 is transferred through lever 223, which is pivoted in a bracket mounted on base 10, to levers 225 and 226 which are pivoted in brackets mounted on platen frame 104. The end of lever. 223 which engages lever 225 is extended in order that this engagement may be secured in either position given to lever 225 by the shift of the platen'into upper or lower cases. The lever 226 is part of a bail 227 having operating fingers 228 engaging one side of rib bon carriage 205, so that the movement of roller 221 will cause fingers 228 to force the carriage 205 to slide onposts 206 and 207 against the pressure of the springs 208 and 209 into the position shown in Fig. 3. The

' movement of carriage 205 in this operation is such that the left hand side, or black side,

' of the color ribbon 212 will be aligned with the printing space 200. In the shifted position of ribbon carriage 205 an extension 229 thereof is locked by catch 230, which also is pivotedin a bracket on platen carriage 104,

and which is held in engagement with extension 229 by means of spring 231. Due to the shape'of lever 223 and its relation tolever 225 this shiftingand locking of ribbon carriage 205 may take place in either upper or will be completed so that the ribbon will be ready for printing in black beforethe transmission of the signal code is pompleted. The 'color ribbon therefore willbe in its new position before the selectionof a type bar takes place, that is, before the actual plrinting operationis started. The color s ift thus is accomplished without loss of time. The return of ribbon carriage 205 after the printing operation has been completed is brought about by the plunger 74 which, when it returns to its normal or lowermost position, .engages one end of a lever 240. The other end of lever 240 carries a trigger 241 which in this operation-engages a lever 242 which in turn is arranged to operate catch 230 against the action of spring 231 sulficiently to release the ribbon carriage 205 which then returns to its normal position under the actionvof springs 208 and 209.

Levers 240 and 242 are pivoted in brackets mounted: on base 210; for this reason catch 230 is of such length and so arranged with respect to lever 242 that the release of the ribbon carriage may be brought about whether the platen carriage isiin position for up er or lower case.

n' Fig. 6 the different possible relative positions of the color ribbon and of the upper and lower cases are illustrated diagrammaticall Thus Figs. 6a and 612 show conditions 'in t e lower case for printing red and black in response to incomin and outgoin messages respectively and igs. 60 and 6 show the corresponding conditions in the upper case. In these figures the end only of a type bar 63 has been shown.

The operation has been described as it would take place at the end of the transmission of alocal or east-going messa e or when the keyboard is operated comparatively slowly. When the keyboard is operated fairly synchronously with the operating cycle of the transmitting distributor TD, the ribbon carriage 205 will be held in its locked position without releasing between characters. This is due to the shape of the raised portion 224 of cam 220 on the distributor which, through the roller 221 and the various levers operated thereby, exerts a pressure through fingers 228 on the ribbon carriage 205 for a comparatively long time.

The printing operation in response to the depression of akey does not take place dur- 1 ation will occur during the second cycle, 1. e.

after a-second key has been depressed. It is therefore necessary that the ribbon carriage obtained b shapin the camming surface 224 to, hold ro er 221m its outer. position untilclose to the end of the cycle or at least till after the plunger 74 has returned to normal osition; The ribbon carriage 205 thus will' e held over in shifted position while the levers 240, 242 and 230-perform their usual release operation. At the end of the first cycle roller 221 slides off the camming surface 224 and, unless anew keyis depressed, the

ribbon carriage 205 will be in condition for release 'at the end of the followin printing operation., However, when a new ey is depressed soon enough the cam 220 will again prevent the release of ribbon carriage 205:

y bringing roller 221 onto the cam surface 224 before the plunger 74 returns to normal during this second cycle.

A unitary receiving and transmitting eguipment comprising another embodiment o the invention is shown in Figs. 8 to 12 of the attached drawings. The prmtin mechanism is similar to that of Patent 1, 45,633, whereas the keyboard transmitter is similar to that of Patent 1,695,472, and the shifting mechanism for the color rlbbon is an alter native form of that describedabove. Since the operation of this alternative unit is very similar to the unit already described the following description will include only'such details of mechanism and o eration as may not be understood from the escription above.

,The unit is mounted on the common base 10 and a common motor, not shown, is provided to drive the printingmechanism through shaft 105 and the transmitting mechanism through shaft 345.

The keyboard transmitter comprises a transmitting distributor TD which has a cylindrical cam 338 for the operation of the transmitting contacts. The cam 338 is driven through the friction clutch 342 by shaft 345 and rotates when the stop lever 357 is operated by the depression of one of the keys 317 a lock bar 364 serves. to lock-the key 7 and the selecting mechanism during'the rotation of the cyhndrical cam 338; this bar. is normally held in a raised position by the engalgement of a lug 371 on cam 338 with a ro er 317 on the arm 365, extending from bar 4 364. When in response to the depression of a key 317 and the consequent operation of stop lever 357 the cylindrical cam 338 is per mitted to rotate in a clock-wise direction, the lug 371 will permit the roller 370 to engage I with the cylindrical surface of cam 338 due to the retraction of spring 369 thereby lower ing the locking bar 364into its docking 'pos1- tion; operation-takes-place before the first im ulse hasbeen transmitted and the locking ar is not raised again1until'the31p0g which will not. be until the complete' signai' 'now to the -color ribbon guide 371 reaches its position under roller code ha s been transmitted. Referring and the-.shiftingmechanism therefor, the

ribbon-212' is kept in -alignment' with the printing space 200 by ribbon guide 403 which 18 mounted on the ribbon carriage 405; the

407 which in turn are mounted on the platen frame 104.. The ribbon carriage 405 is held in its normal position by s rings 408 and 409 in which osition the co or ribbon has its red side allgned with the printing space 200.

oted to the lever arm 450 and its left hand end is slidably mounted on a portion of the platen carriage 104 for a transverse'movement with res ect to the printer shaft 105 and at this en the bar 422 carries an angular extension 425 which has a camm'ing surface in contact with, a roller 426 mounted on the ribbon carriage 205. Thus whenever the roller 370 of the transmitting distributor drops to the surface of the cam 338 arm 450 moves towards the left, in turn sliding bar 422 towards the left, whereby the camming surface of extension 425 causes the roller 426 to force the ribbon carriage to slideon posts 406 and 407 against the tension of the springs 408 and 409. A catch 429 then engages a lock-.

Themovement of roller 370 and arm 365 latter is slidably mounted on posts and Y i position. In its'locked position the ribbon carriage 205 through the ribbon guide 403 positions the color ribbon so that its black return of the printing plunger 74. The book on release member-442 cooperates with a similar hook on pawl 441 and is shaped so that during the downward movement; of pawl 441 the two hooks .w 11 to the clockwise mov 'j release member 4 42 release-member 442 has an angular extenion"4 43 "inthe direction ofthe shift 'movement of the platen, and this extension is disengage due side will be aligned with printing space 200 III longoenough to accomplish the release of the rib n carriage in either position of the platen carriage. Due to the comparatively great lengths of bar 422 and arm 450 the shifting of the ribbon carriage 405 by the movement of these parts may be brought about both in upper-and lower case positions of the late.

e timing of the shifting and release operations for the ribbon carriage is similar producing a record of signals from said transmitters, means controlled by one of said transmitters for adjusting said recording deviceto make a' record of signals from said one transmitter distin uishable from the record made of signals rem another of said transmitters.

3. In a telegraph system, two signal transmitters, a recording device for producing on a common base alternate records of signals from said transmitters, means associated with said recording device for making said records characteristically diiferent.

4. In a telegraph system,'a signaling line, a plurality of signal transmitting means connected to said line, a recording device for producing records of signals from said transmitting means on a common recording base, means associated with said recordin device for makin said records individual y characteristic in accordance with the direction of transmission over said line of said signals.

5. In a telegraph system, a line, a recording device connected to said line, local transmitting means associated with said recording device, said recording device being adapted to produce a single continuous record of .incoming messages from said line and of messages transmitted by said transmitting device, 4

said recording device comprising guiding means for the recording base and coloring means for supplying coloring matter to said recording base, and shiftin means associated with said recording device for efiecting a relative shift between said" guiding means and said coloring means under the control of said transmitting means to modify the symbols representing the message from said local transmitting means to be characteristicallydifl'erentfrom those representing said incoming message. j

6. In a start-stop telegraph system, a line,

nasa'jbe a recording rinter connected to said line, a

local transmitter associated with-said printer,

one record, said rinter comprising a platen,

color ribbon i ing means, and paper guiding means, s 'fting means associated with sa1d printer for changing the alignment of one of said guiding means with respect to said platen, said local transmitter com rising a control means for operating said s 'ftmeans, and restoring means for said, shifting means controlled by said printer.

7. In combination,a telegra h tape printer adapted for line recording and homerecording in a continuous record which com rises a receiving distributor having a color ribbon guide, a recording tape guide, a platen adapted for printing 1n upper and "lower cases, a

keyboard transmitter which comprises a sending distributor, shifting means for one of sa1d guides to change the relative alignment of sa1d guides in both upper and lower cases,

means included in said sending distributor for setting said shifting means for one aligns ment during the sending cycle for a character, means'included in said receiving distributor for setting said shifting means for another alignmentduring the printing cycle for said character. a

8. In a start-stop telegraph system, a tape printer adapted to roduce a continuous rec- 0rd of incoming an outgoing signals, a keyboard transmitter for producing said out- .going signals, said prlnter comprising a paper guide, a two-color ribbon, and a guide or said ribbon, shifting means for said color ribbon guide to chan e its alignment relative to said paper un er the control of said transmitter to record out oing si als with one of the colors of said ri bon an to record incomin signals with the other color of said rib on.

9. In a start-stop telegraph system, a re-; cording device for producing a continuous mixed record of eastgoin and westgoing signals, a transmitting devlce for producing sa1d westgoin signals, shifting means assomated with said recording device to modify the symbols used for said messages under the control of said transmitter near the start impulse and without loss of line time, and means under the control of said recording device after the ,stop signal of said incoming impulse, to produce unmodified symbols for said incoming signals.

10. In a start-stop telegraph system, a tape printer adapted to make a continuous record of incoming and outgoing signals which'comprises -a. receiving distributor having a stop sector, a two-color ribbon, a ide for said ribbon, recording paper guiding means for porintmg in upper and lower cases, a keyard transmitter which comprises a sending distributor having a start sector, shifting means for said ribbon guide to present either of the two colors of said ribbon for printing in either of said cases, means for setting said shifting means to present one of said colors under the control of said start sector and other means for presenting the other of said colors under the control of said stop sector.

11. A start-stop tape printer comprising a receiving distributor, a platen, a two-color ribbon, a guide for said ribbon, a tape guide, means for shifting said platen into upper and lower cases and a type operating power plunger, a local keyboard transmitter comprising a sending distributor, means for shifting said ribbon guide to change-the color of printing in upper and lower cases, camming means on said sending distributor for setting said ribbon guide through said shifting means near the end of the start impulse from said sending distributor, releasing means for said shifting means to restore said I ribbon guide under the control of said power plunger after completion of its type bar operating stroke.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification this 9th day of September, 1930.

EDWARD F. WATSON. THOMAS A. McCA NN. 

